LAKE ELSINORE: Alleged thief faces possible life sentence

A Lake Elsinore man whose prior criminal convictions sent him to
prison seven times now faces a possible life sentence if convicted
of stealing gloves and wire worth $29 from a local Home Depot.

Scott Andrew Hove Sr., 44, is charged with petty theft, which is
a felony, in connection with the 2009 incident at Home Depot in
Lake Elsinore. He also is alleged to have prior convictions, a trio
of 1991 first-degree burglary convictions from Orange County,
making him eligible for a prison term of 25 years to life under
California's three-strikes law.

The three-strikes law increases penalties for offenders with a
third felony conviction to 25 years to life if a defendant has two
or more previous serious or violent felony convictions. The third
strike can be a conviction on any felony charge, said Deputy
District Attorney Torey Nasif, the prosecutor handling the Hove
case.

Chang said the decision to prosecute Hove under the
three-strikes law was made after the case was reviewed and
discussed by managers within the district attorney's office.

California prosecutors can use their own discretion in deciding
whether to pursue a three-strikes case, and not all offices have
the same standards.

One legal expert said opinions vary within the legal community
and some prosecutors would not pursue a nonviolent offender under
the three-strikes law.

"Some people really feel this is an inappropriate use of
three-strikes," said Laurie Levenson, a professor of law at Loyola
Law School in Los Angeles. "They think three-strikes is for the
violent criminals, especially in a time when prisons are
overflowing."

Levenson noted that some prosecutors take a much tougher stance
and pursue three-strikes cases when the offenders are not violent,
which the law allows.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, considered by
many to be a tough-on-crime prosecutor, joined a movement about
three years ago to amend the three-strikes law to focus on violent
criminals, she said.

Opponents said the law is unjustly harsh on nonviolent
offenders, who receive the same prison term as convicted
murderers.

"We want to amend the law so it does not apply to petty
offenses," said Bonnie Gordon, 56, of Ontario, the Inland Empire
chairwoman of Families to Amend California's Three Strikes Law.

She said the Hove case is one of many that demonstrate the law's
unfairness.

"It's ridiculous," Gordon said. "A lot of people are locked up
for these offenses."

Of the inmates in state prisons serving a life sentence because
of the three-strikes law, more than 2,000 of the offenses were
property crimes, while almost 4,000 were for crimes against people,
according to a 2010 report by the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Gordon said she voted for the law in 1994 because she believed
it would keep murderers and rapists in prison, but did not
understand its reach until a few years later, when a loved one was
facing charges.

Oceanside resident Lyndon Jackson had two prior strikes for
burglarizing an unoccupied dwelling when he was charged under the
law, she said. Jackson was paid for fixing an air conditioning unit
with a $250 check that turned out to be stolen and forged, Gordon
said. He was subsequently convicted of burglary of a commercial
establishment and honoring a forged check, then sentenced to 25
years to life in prison, she said.

Nondus Andrea Hove, 70, fears her son will face the same fate in
Riverside County.

She and defense attorney Bejarano both say Hove would benefit
from a drug treatment program.

"There are alternatives to locking him up," Bejarano said. "He's
been stealing to maintain his drug habit. There is no violence in
his background."

Hove's mother, a Long Beach resident, said her son should be
punished.

"He's stupid," she said of her son's actions. "But for him to
spend the rest of his life in prison for stealing a $20 pair of
gloves is crazy."